Tire skirt support assembly for compactor

Abstract

A tire skirt support assembly for a compactor comprising a bracket and one or more skirt support members. The bracket can be oriented horizontally, and each skirt support member can have a body that is elongate with a first end and a second end opposite the first end. For each said skirt support member, the first end can be fixed to the bracket, and the second end can be below the bracket and is a free end configured to removably engage a skirt via an attachment opening in the skirt.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A tire skirt support assembly for a compactor comprising:
 a bracket, the bracket being oriented horizontally; and 
 one or more skirt support members, each said skirt support member having a body that is elongate with a first end and a second end opposite the first end, 
 wherein for each said skirt support member:
 the body extends vertically from the bracket, 
 the first end is fixed to the bracket,
 the second end is below the bracket and is a free end configured to removably engage a skirt via an attachment opening of the skirt, and 
 
 the second end forms a bottom-most part of the tire skirt support assembly. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the second end of the body of the skirt support member has a prong and a flange provided at an angle relative to each other, only one of the prong or the flange being configured to extend through the attachment opening of the skirt to removably engage the skirt, the other of the prong or the flange extending vertically in a same direction as the body. 
     
     
       3. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the angle is an acute angle. 
     
     
       4. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the prong is configured to extend through the attachment opening and the flange extends vertically in the same direction as the body. 
     
     
       5. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the flange is configured to extend through the attachment opening and the prong extends vertically in the same direction as the body. 
     
     
       6. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more skirt support members include a plurality of said skirt support members. 
     
     
       7. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the skirt support members face a same direction. 
     
     
       8. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 6 , wherein at least one of the skirt support members faces a first direction and at least one of the skirt support members faces a second direction different from the first direction. 
     
     
       9. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 6 ,
 wherein the plurality of said skirt support members are grouped as a first set of skirt support members and a second set of skirt support members, 
 wherein the first set of skirt support members is adapted to protect one or more tires at a front of the compactor, and 
 wherein the second set of skirt support members is adapted to protect one or more tires at a rear of the compactor. 
 
     
     
       10. The tire skirt support assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the skirt support members of the first set of skirt support members are all of a first configuration and the skirt support members of the second set of skirt support members are all of a second configuration different from the first configuration. 
     
     
       11. A tire skirt system for a compacting machine comprising:
 a skirt having a plurality of attachment openings; 
 a bracket, the bracket being oriented horizontally; and 
 a plurality of skirt support members, each said skirt support member having a body that is elongate with a first end and a second end opposite the first end, 
 wherein for each said skirt support member:
 the first end is fixed to the bracket, 
 the second end is below the bracket and is a free end removably coupled to the skirt via only one of the attachment openings, and 
 the second end is at a height above a bottom edge of the skirt. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The tire skirt system according to  claim 11 , wherein the skirt support members are horizontally uniformly spaced to support the skirt. 
     
     
       13. The tire skirt system according to  claim 11 , wherein the skirt support members face a same direction. 
     
     
       14. The tire skirt system according to  claim 11 ,
 wherein skirt support members of a first set of the skirt support members face a first direction, 
 wherein skirt support members of a second set of the skirt support members face a second direction different from the first direction, 
 wherein the skirt includes a first skirt section removably coupled to the first set of skirt support members and a second skirt section removably coupled to the second set of skirt support members, and 
 wherein the first skirt section faces the first direction and the second skirt section faces the second direction. 
 
     
     
       15. The tire skirt system according to  claim 11 , wherein the second end of the body of the skirt support member has a prong and a flange provided at an angle relative to each other, only one of the prong or the flange extending through said one attachment opening to removably engage the skirt, the other of the prong or the flange extending vertically in a same direction as the body. 
     
     
       16. The tire skirt system according to  claim 11 , wherein each of the skirt support members is configured to return to an original shape upon release of a predetermined amount of bending force applied directly or indirectly to the skirt support member. 
     
     
       17. A pneumatic compactor comprising:
 a body; 
 a front compactor member including one or more front pneumatic tires; 
 a rear compactor member including one or more rear pneumatic tires; 
 a front tire skirt system configured to protect the one or more front pneumatic tires; and 
 a rear tire skirt system configured to protect the one or more rear pneumatic tires, 
 wherein each of the front tire skirt system and the rear tire skirt system includes a tire skirt support assembly having:
 a bracket, the bracket being oriented horizontally, and 
 a plurality of skirt support members, each said skirt support member having a body that is elongate with a first end and a second end opposite the first end, and 
 
 wherein for each said skirt support member:
 the body extends vertically from the bracket, 
 the first end is fixed to the bracket, and 
 the second end is below the bracket and is a free end configured to removably engage a skirt via an attachment opening of the skirt. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The pneumatic compactor according to  claim 17 , wherein the skirt support members of the front tire skirt system are of a first configuration and the skirt support members of the rear tire skirt system are of a second configuration different from the first configuration. 
     
     
       19. The pneumatic compactor according to  claim 17 , wherein the front tire skirt system includes a first skirt, and the rear tire skirt system includes a rear skirt, each of the first skirt and the second skirt being comprised of a plurality of distinct skirt sections separately removable from the tire skirt support assembly of the front tire skirt system and the tire skirt support assembly of the rear tire skirt system, respectively. 
     
     
       20. The pneumatic compactor according to  claim 17 , wherein the second end of the body of the skirt support member has a prong and a flange provided at an angle relative to each other, only one of the prong or the flange being configured to extend through the attachment opening of the skirt to removably engage the skirt, the other of the prong or the flange extending vertically in a same direction as the body.